Sunday, November 17, 2013

A Reliable Wilderness

We can walk in the woods day after day and not see a single thing
that takes our breath away. The ocean, however, is a reliable wilderness
that fuels our spirits with sights and sounds almost every time we take
a look.

The
week we spent at the coast coincided with the end of a month-long feeding
frenzy that was absolutely stunning. We did see whales (after I wrote the first
post) and more birds and sea mammals than we had ever seen gathered at
one time.

I
did take a few videos. One of a harbor seal slapping its flippers on
the water in a communication display (so I've read) and one of some
dolphins making their way to more food.

I
tried to photograph a scene that would give the perspective of how many
pelicans were amassed in this part of the bay and came up with the above pic that
almost does it.

We drove home Saturday and are
awaiting the first rains of the season. California is in a drought at
the moment. According to the San Francisco Chronicle the bay area has
received the least amount of rain for the year in recorded history. Pretty scary stuff. Then, of course, there's always the Fukushima radiation disaster
making its way toward us. Yeah, I know, I'm a bit of a bummer but I
can't help worrying about this beautiful reliable wilderness.

PS-- I had to make the video resolution low in order to upload it on our slow internet speed. Sorry about that.

14 comments:

Loved the videos,Robin. Watching creatures in the water, so graceful even with their astonishing mass, is mesmerizing. And sea birds; more grace and beauty. I share your pessimism, but hold out hope that somehow, someway, disaster will be averted for future generations. Do I believe it? I wish I did.

Ursula K. Le Guin wrote a novel called Always Coming Home. It is set in a future post apocolyptic California, after all kinds of natural and manmade disasters. The region survived and regrew, so to speak, in her vision. I'm afraid the reality may not be so positive.Not sure what can be done at this point.

omg, at the photograph of the birds!! it is stunning to view. we have seen bait balls on the Sound with sea birds swarming, but they were smaller and did not seem as overwhelming a presence! amazing, robin. this makes me want to be somewhere between halfmoon bay and st simeon! i never tire of driving that coast and gazing at the magnificent seascapes.

Yes, we enjoyed the videos but it was the pelican photo that blew us away. Sometimes we get to see 1 or 2 here in our area if the winds blow the right direction and they get off track and then people from miles around come to see them.

The videos are great, and that last photo is amazing! I enlarged it and it got even better.Yeah, the whole Fukushima disaster is pretty scary. I live exactly 17.8 miles from the nuclear plant at San Onofre. I gave the exact distance we live just inside the plant evacuation zone and miles inside the local evacuation zone. I don't EVER want that place to open up again. At this point, it looks like it never will.